POLICE: I-95 PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENTS HARD TO EXPLAIN

A Hollywood woman became the third pedestrian in a week to be run down on Interstate 95 when she darted in front of a car near the Copans Road exit Monday, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

As with the other incidents, troopers were at a loss to explain why Susan J. Stipp, 32, risked crossing the busy interstate at 8:25 a.m. Stipp, who lives on a boat in Sea Lake Marina, was in fair condition at North Broward Medical Center Monday night.

Trooper Kathy McDannel, the accident investigator, said troopers did not find a vehicle belonging to Stipp, making it unlikely she was stranded.

Two other women, also attempting to cross I-95, were struck and killed in the past week, the highway patrol said.

"To have three hit out there in one week is unusual," said Highway Patrol Lt. Rich Rossman. "And it's unusual to have a pedestrian hit out there and not be a fatal.

"That's the worst road in the county to be a pedestrian on," he said.

Rossman said he does not think any of the cases were suicide attempts.

Stipp was running across the northbound lanes toward the median strip when she was struck by a 1983 Datsun driven by Barnett Guthartz of West Palm Beach, McDannel said.

Guthartz, 71, and his wife, Freda, 63, of 14101 Wind Flower Drive, were not injured, she said.

On Friday, 73-year-old Irma Rosenberg of Belmont, Mass., was struck and killed when she stepped into a southbound lane of I-95 near the New River Bridge.

Rossman said it was unknown why she was walking along the highway, but that apparently she had just arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and was looking for a motel.

"For whatever reason, she decided to walk and to use the interstate, which is a very foolish way to get about," Rossman said.

Investigators are likewise puzzled by the hit-and-run death of Paula Livsey, a 19-year-old whose body was found near the Sample Road exit of I-95 on the morning of March 24.

Livsey, whose address was unknown, was run over by as many six cars just before daybreak on that Sunday. Troopers theorized that several of those motorists did not see her.

"Periodically, we will have pedestrians get run over out there, but it's usually not persons walking," Rossman said. "Someone will break down and will be attempting to get off to get help."

Youngsters seeking a shortcut and intoxicated motorists also account for some of the pedestrian fatalities, he said.

"It's just not worth it" as a shortcut, he said. "And you don't have a chance trying to cross that road if you're intoxicated."

The recent rash of pedestrian accidents are the first this year on the interstate, Rossman said.

Pedestrian accidents account for about 40 percent of all highway fatalities in Broward County each year, Rossman said. Of the 58 fatalities so far this year, 22 of them were pedestrians, he said.

"That's slightly higher than the national average," Rossman said, which he attributes in part to South Florida's large elderly population.

But for pedestrians to risk crossing I-95 is simply unwise and, most often, unnecessary, Rossman said.

"If you do become disabled on the interstate, you should attempt to get to the right shoulder. Don't go to the median," Rossman said. "And if you have to be in the median, do not try to cross that road."